/ Microsoft has dropped its Surface Connect port on its latest dock in favor of USB-C. While the older Surface Dock 2 will still be sold, it shows the direction Surface is heading.
By TOM WARREN / @tomwarren
Apr 4, 2023, 10:22 PM GMT+6:30|3 Comments / 3 New
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Microsoft’s new Surface dock has multiple USB-C connections
The new Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock. Image: Microsoft
Microsoft has just officially unveiled a Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock hours after the device leaked. Priced at $299.99, the new Surface dock will connect over USB-C instead of the proprietary Surface Connect port. Microsoft is planning to keep selling its Surface Dock 2, complete with the Surface Connect port that’s designed for Surface devices that don’t have USB-C or Thunderbolt 4.
This new Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock will support devices other than Surface for the first time. You can connect to it via USB-C, and it supports data transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps and 96W charging thanks to Thunderbolt 4. At the front, there is a single USB-C port alongside a USB-A port but sadly no SD card slot. The rear of the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock has two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, a 2.5-gigabit ethernet port, an audio jack, and a security lock slot.
The rear of the new Surface dock.
The rear of the new Surface dock. Image: Microsoft
While this doesn’t spell the immediate end of the Surface Connect port, it’s clear that Microsoft is heading in that direction. Microsoft’s recent Surface devices like the Surface Laptop 5 and Surface Pro 9 both ship with USB-C ports that support Thunderbolt 4 alongside the proprietary Surface Connect port. It now seems likely that we’ll soon see a Surface device that drops the Surface Connect port in favor of just USB-C. Microsoft did ship the Surface 3 with just a Micro USB charging port, instead of the proprietary Surface Connect charging.
It took Microsoft some time to support USB-C and even Thunderbolt 4 on its Surface devices. USB-C finally arrived on the Surface Pro 7 in 2019, and two years later, the Surface Pro 8 arrived with Thunderbolt support. In 2020, Microsoft said Surface devices didn’t ship with Thunderbolt at the time due to security concerns.
The new Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock will be available today from Microsoft’s own online store, priced at $299.99.
